On May 9, Moldova and the European Union signed a landmark agreement launching the Growth Plan for Moldova, part of a wider €1.9 billion support package under the EU’s Reform and Growth Facility, Prime Minister Dorin Recean announced.
The Growth Plan combines a comprehensive reform agenda geared toward modernizing public institutions with project-based investments aimed at shoring up the economy and raising living standards. “We are talking about concrete, country-wide projects that would otherwise take decades to complete without European Union support,” Recean said during a live-streamed press briefing.
Approved by Moldova’s government on May 7, the package represents the largest financial assistance the EU has ever extended to the Republic of Moldova. It is divided into two elements: €400 million of non-repayable grants and €1.5 billion in loans scheduled over a 40-year term, including a 10-year grace period. Interest rates will vary from 0.1 percent up to just over 3 percent.
To unlock the funds, Moldova must implement a series of flagship projects. These include constructing a regional hospital in Bălți, upgrading key road corridors, restoring forest landscapes, enhancing irrigation systems, and bolstering support for entrepreneurs and youth employment initiatives.
Thanks to progress on its EU accession path affirmed by a referendum in October in which just over half of voters backed membership Moldova secured this support package. Officials anticipate that the investment and structural reforms will drive annual growth of around 5 percent through 2028, yielding higher wages, more robust institutions, and an improved quality of life for Moldovan citizens.
